Need You Now
by the missing x
Summary: "Hey, you've reached the Wall-man, if I'm not picking up it's because I'm sleeping or doing something completely awesome. Leave a message and I'll get back to you in a Flash." One month after the Arctic mission Artemis is struggling to move on...


Need You Now by Lady Antebellum

* * *

_Picture perfect memories_

_Scattered all around the floor_

_Reaching for the phone cause_

_I can't fight it anymore _

* * *

Artemis picked up the phone and hit the contact that had been void from her life for nearly a month now. Tears dripping down her face as the rings increased and her hopes plummeted into a deep dark hole.

_"Hey, you've reached the Wall-man, if I'm not picking up it's because I'm sleeping or doing something completely awesome. Leave a message and I'll get back to you in a Flash."_

She cried harder, replaying the message over and over again. Finally falling asleep in his shirt and wrapped up in his scent, it took all her will power not to burn the house down to the ground.

* * *

_And I wonder if I _

_Ever cross your mind_

_For me it happens all the time_

* * *

Tigress walked down the halls of the watchtower, ignoring the looks of sympathy many of the league still gave her. She didn't want their pity- it would bring him back. Nothing could bring him back.

Not now, it was too late.

Far too late.

* * *

_It's a quarter after one _

_I'm all alone and I need you now_

_I said I wouldn't call_

_But I've lost all control_

_And I need you now_

* * *

It's the anniversary and she holes herself up in their room and brings out all the photo albums they had made over the years. The picture that she clutched to her chest was one of their first kiss in the watchtower…

_"I should have done this a long time ago."_

_"No kidding"_

_…_

Her tears dropped onto the pictures, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. The ink falling from place and clouding itself around their figures, and maybe that's what she wanted- for it to all go back to when it was simpler and the world wasn't out to get them.

* * *

_And I don't know how_

_I can do without_

_I just need you now_

* * *

The next mission she goes on they face Lex Luthor. And it takes Nightwing, Aqualad and Batgirl to hold her back. All she sees is red, and the evil man that she blamed for Wally's death, she would have her revenge. Sooner or later.

She had nothing better to do than wait for the right time.

* * *

_Another shot of whiskey_

_Can't stop looking at the door_

_Wishing you'd come sweeping_

_In the way you did before_

* * *

When Zatanna comes to check up on her she finds Artemis in tears on the couch with a bottle of whiskey in her hands. Upon seeing her magician friend she bursts into another dam of tears because she had a lover to love. And she didn't- why was the universe so unfair?

* * *

_And I wonder if I_

_Ever cross your mind_

_For me it happens all the time_

* * *

She spend that night crying in Zatanna's arms and slurring out different curses in Vietnamese and French. And she remembers the magician telling her that there was a way…

But for what she couldn't remember, the only thing in her mind was red hair and those beautiful field grass eyes- ones that she would never be able to see again.

* * *

_It's a quarter after one_

_I'm a little drunk _

_And I need you now_

_Said I wouldn't call _

_But I've lost all control_

_And I need you now_

* * *

She dials his number once again and is greeted with the bliss that is his voice. And maybe she is crazy if she pretends he's just on a mission and he'll be back for her soon. But it's all that she can hang onto without having her sanity ripped from her as well. And she leaves voice message after voice message, the next one getting more desperate until the last can only be heard with ears of an elephant.

* * *

_And I don't know how_

_I can do without_

_I just need you now_

* * *

The grave in Central City is still shiny and new, she places new flowers there every week. Asters. And it's because she wants him to remember all the fun times they had as teens and maybe it's the only thing that tethers her to the memory.

She's stopped going to the watchtower altogether now. Maybe that's why she doesn't want to forget.

* * *

_Whoa, whoa_

_Guess I'd rather hurt_

_Than feel nothing at all_

* * *

The storm clouds gather above Central City and she lets the tears fall with the rain. And her heart is thumping against her rib cage, like a bird trying to break free of their chains. Her legs no longer support her and she falls to her knees.

_God, when did she get so weak?_ She thinks to herself amongst the bang of lighting and the thud of thunder.

* * *

_It's a quarter after one_

_I'm all alone_

_And I need you now_

_I said I wouldn't call _

_But I've lost all control_

_And I need you now_

* * *

She walks home in the rain, her hands stuffed in her hoodie pocket and hair stuck to her forehead. She offers a small smile to Brucely and gets out his food to fed him. She sits with the loved pet until he's finished with his food and goes to take a nap.

* * *

_And I don't know how_

_I can do without _

_I just need you now_

_I just need you now_

* * *

There's a sharp knocking on the door and she grumbles about how she looks before wiping the hair out of her eyes and dumping the hoodie on the floor. Walking solemnly to the door she looks through the peephole to see a mop of brightly coloured hair.

Her eyes widen and she tries to see the face but the tiny hole wouldn't permit her to see anymore that the gangly hair she had come to love.

* * *

_Oh baby, I need you now…_


End file.
